The US Capitol Police arrested a man on Tuesday, August 25, who was allegedly carrying a guillotine in the bed of a pickup truck. Capitol Police said in a news release that Philan-Tam-Duy Le of Julian, California, was arrested on suspicion of “carrying a dangerous weapon” and being in possession of the guillotine.
“This afternoon our officers seized a guillotine, which they spotted in the bed of a pickup truck along the 100 block of East Capitol Street,” The U.S. Capitol Police wrote on X.
Who is Philan-Tam-Duy Le?
Le is from the small town of Julian in San Diego County. He is 35 years old and drove to Washington from California.
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“The suspect drove here from California. USCP investigators are going through the suspect’s background to learn more about why he came to Washington, DC.,” Capitol Police wrote.
The journey is more than 2,500 miles, and police are not sure of the reason for his cross-country trek to the nation’s capital, Newsweek reported.
{{/usCountry}}The journey is more than 2,500 miles, and police are not sure of the reason for his cross-country trek to the nation’s capital, Newsweek reported.
{{/usCountry}}The guillotine was in the bed of his pickup truck along the 100 block of East Capitol Street. The truck was spotted near the Capitol and the Supreme Court, where it was parked illegally, according to officers.
Congress is in recess, which means lawmakers are in their home districts, not in Washington.
An Instagram account appearing to belong to Lee included a Story on Tuesday afternoon featuring a video of a man with the guillotine outside FBI headquarters in Washington.
“Outside the FBI building, just eating some cheese pizza,” the man said in the video. The post included the caption “Guillotine adventures” and said, “Capital hill next,” per NBC News.
Capitol Police sometimes make arrests beyond the Capitol grounds. Those incidents are always necessarily politically motivated.
Photos released by police show the guillotine fully assembled and placed upright in the truck bed. The frame extended several feet above the truck, climbing into the surrounding tree line.